1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to data protection systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for enabling and managing application input/output activity while restoring a data store.
2. Description of the Related Art
In typical computing environments, small to large enterprises accumulate a significant amount of mission critical data related to various functions (e.g., business transactions, administration, resource management, manufacturing, services, and/or the like). The mission critical data may be stored in various storage devices and systems (e.g., tape drives, hard disk drives, RAID configurations and/or the like). The mission critical data may be backed up to the storage device and continuously monitored by various backup software programs.
These backup software programs may perform a backup process on the mission critical data at fixed and/or variable time intervals. During such a backup process, these backup software programs store copies of the mission critical data as volume images that corresponds with particular points-in-time. If one or more failures occur (e.g., a computer fault, a catastrophe, a natural disaster, corruption of one or more hardware and/or software programs and/or the like), such volume images are utilized to rollback and/or restore the mission critical data in order to achieve point-in-time consistency.
The mission critical data may be backed up in real time by employing one or more continuous data protection techniques. These continuous data protection technologies log each and every application input/output operation (e.g., write data, modify data, delete data and/or the like) performed on the mission critical data. The logs are indexed appropriately such that, on the occurrence of the failure, the mission critical data may be restored to any point in time by creation of a point in time image. During such a restoration, execution of concurrent application Input/Output (I/O) activity on the storage device is not permitted. The concurrent application I/O activity must also be logged so that the mission critical data may be restored any point in time due to subsequent failures. During a blackout window (i.e. duration in which an exact ordering of the application input/output activity cannot be determined), significant application I/O activity may be lost that hampers the restoration process as well as the achievement of point-in-time consistent mission critical data.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for enabling and directing application input/output activity while restoring a data store.